Cocktail Week

Some interesting cocktails were poured at last night’s opening of San Francisco’s Cocktail Week. Held at the very cool Anchor Brewing building in Potrero Hill, the event featured a select cocktail list from around the world. Our first stop was Britain for the Tea Party Cocktail where Stuart McCluskey, owner of Scotland’s premier cocktail bar The Bon Vivant, topped each glass with bergamot tea leaves. Now, I don’t know how much of each ingredient was put in, but here’s a list: No. 3 Gin, King’s Ginger Liqueur, orange marmalade, and bergamot tea foam. This had a firm not too sweet gin-ginger taste, under a thin layer of foam (though, I could do without the foam). And, of course, it was paired with miniature shepherd’s pies. Yummy!

Another favorite was from Latin & South America. The Mayan Decadence was crafted by Ronaldo Colli from Americano Restaurant, Hotel Vitale. I’ve never had any of these ingredients but WOW what a drink: Chinaco Añejo, D’Aristi Xtabentun, Aztec Chocolate & Xocolat Mole Bitters. The tequila was quite smooth, and the sweet rum/honey with bitters rounded everything out quite nicely. Refreshing!